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Personal Development at Northfield

Personal development is an incredibly important element of any school, and we are extremely proud of the provision we provide our pupils. We believe our pupils receive an outstanding development programme with a high-quality and well-structured life skills curriculum to develop pupils' understanding of a broad range of important themes.

At Northfield, personal development goes beyond the curriculum and is supported by a wide range of extra-curricular activities and opportunities. The ultimate aim is to develop pupils to be confident, resilient and independent, with great strength of character.

For more information on our personal development curriculum, please click on the relevant pages to the right of this page.

Why is personal development important?

  • It contributes to physical and mental health and well being, encouraging individual responsibility for health.
  • It contributes to the safety and protection of our children and young people, from staying safe online to understanding risks associated with drugs and alcohol and knowing the law surrounding these topics.
  • It contributes to the information young people need to help them develop healthy, nurturing relationships of all kinds, not just intimate relationships, and know boundaries within the law.
  • It promotes independence, resilience and responsibility, to prepare children and young people for future roles as parents, employees and leaders.
  • It supports employability by developing the personal and social skills demanded by commerce and industry.
  • It supports students to be critical consumers of information and develops the skills to identify misleading news or views on social media and elsewhere.

How is personal development taught?

At Northfield, we operate a whole school approach to personal development and some appropriate topics are explored in tutor time, life skills lessons and assembly. Other subject areas contribute to certain topics such as biology in science and aspects of relationship and health education arise in English, drama and PE.

Teaching is conducted in a safe learning environment through the use of ground rules and distancing techniques so that pupils are not put on the spot or expected to discuss their own personal issues in class. Teaching resources are selected on the basis of their appropriateness to pupils.